Only Human
by scarlet tribe
Summary: Anbu are a special sect of ninja who are capable of many impressive feats. They are some of a village's top ninjas, but even they have their limits. After a mission gone wrong, an old friend of Kakashi's is pushed back into his life. In the midst of fear and turmoil and dangerous times, perhaps the two can start where they left off.
1. Chapter 1

She couldn't hear much other than the clack, clack, clack of her standard shinobi shoes and the thudding of her heartbeat in her ears as she ran. The scroll was in her hand and she ran through the woods towards the village. She had been running for three days, being pursed the majority of the way. She had lost them yesterday but they seemed to have found her again. She wasn't sure what country they were from but she knew what they were after. And there was one way to get it.

Over her dead body.

She had already been injured, making it difficult to run. But even so, she could still outrun them. Every time she began to lose stamina, she popped a pill designed to give her that little boost. At this point, the pills and her adrenaline were all that kept her going. It was her best bet at survival at this point. She was small but sturdy. However, in her state it would be reckless to take on five of them on her own. What she lacked in physical strength, she made up for in speed and agility. The anbu were quiet, but she was one of the quietest which made her perfect for this type of mission.

It was not supposed to go this way.

It was a simple snatch and grab, she's done it a million times and hasn't gotten in this bad of a situation in years. Someone tipped them off.

No sooner had she thought that, a kunai struck the back of her thigh. She missed her step and fell in a roll, struggled to get up, and kept running. As she ran, she noticed the trees around her became warped and seemed to move. _Poison._ She veered off to the side and jumped into a tree. She pulled the kunai out and put it in her pouch before pulling out a small vial with a needle attached. She took a dep breath in, stabbed her thigh, and pressed the plunger. This antidote was fast but it was painful. Fire seemed to spread through her and she couldn't help but it tense up, and almost convulse. After a few seconds, she could relax and move again. She barely got out of the way of the barrage of kunai and shuriken thrown at her. She hit the dirt road running. She was maybe a mile from the village…they should have backed off by now. Usually, pursuers tend to stop three miles out to avoid conflict. The ballsy ones stop around this distance.

Her heart raced as her vision slowly became better but the burning still lingered. She pushed forward, she needed to make it to the hokage. More weapons were thrown at her and she dodged most of them. After about four minutes of full out sprinting, the gates of the village were in her sights. There were two shinobi on guard and she called out to them.

"Heads up!" She shouted before sprinting through the gates. Another Kunai dug into her shoulder. She kept running but looked over she shoulder. The two guards were fighting two of her assailants. Three more followed her _into the fucking village._ She would have to take a different route.

She jumped up onto the roofs. She needed to keep them away from civilians.

She ran through the city, her attackers hot on her trails. One leaf shinobi took one of her followers on. People looked up from the street, watching her run. She passed by a small area with a bridge. Three genin and their teacher looked up. She kept running. She wasn't about to ask genin to help if she couldn't handle them.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked as they watched the anbu head their way. As they passed, Kakashi saw the enemy shinobi following close behind.

"Stay here." Kakashi ordered roughly before jumping and taking on one of the attackers.

"No way!" Naruto shouted. "He can't just expect us to do nothing!" Naruto shouted and jumped up, going for another enemy ninja.

"Naruto!" sasuke called out angrily before jumping after him. Sakura followed quickly. The three genin were taking on an assailant and Kakashi took care of his relatively quickly. The two guards from earlier along with Might Guy joined him on the roof.

"What the hell is going on?" Kakashi asked.

"She ran through with them on her tail." One of the guards answered.

"We could only stop two." The other answered.

"How many were there?" Guy asked. The first guard shook his head.

"Not sure, about six?" He answered. A large crash sounded and they looked to see Naruto had kicked his opponent into the ground so hard it left a dent. The man didn't move.

"Way to go, Naruto!" Sakura cheered. The three made their way back to their teacher.

"You said about six?" Kakashi asked. They nodded. "There should be at least on more."

"Let's split up." Guy suggested. "We need to make sure no one else slipped in. Alert the rest of the shinobi."

"You three," Kakashi said, turning to his team. "Go to Lady Tsunade and explain to her what is happening, that an anbu ninja has returned with enemies on her tail."

"Won't they beat us there?" Sakura asked.

"Not if it's who I think it is." He explained. "Stick together and be careful. Go." They nodded and moved out.

She jumped from building to building. She was running low on energy but she didn't think leading them to the hokage was wise. Her leg gave out on one of the roofs and she could feel him closing in. She pulled out her short katana and blocked his attack. She pushed him away and he fell off the building. She took this opportunity to run again. He caught up with her quickly and tackled her. She used her feet to push him over her head but he grabbed the scroll. He tried to run but she grabbed his ankle and pulled him back. She straddled him and delivered three quick blows to his face before grabbing the scroll and running again. She heard him move and jumped away, running to the Hokage's tower. She felt another presence behind her and looked. Another shinobi had stepped in to take on this person.

Hoping that was the last of them, she high tailed it to the tower. _Thank you, Guy._ She thought to herself. She was running low on time and energy. She needed to see Lady Tsunade and fast. She saw the tower before her and Jumped up. The only thing in her way was the window.

Kakshi ran into the room and was relieved to see all of his team there with Tsunade and Shizune. He apologized for interrupting.

"All threats have been neutralized." He informed her, "at least the ones we could find."

"Then were the hell is my operative?" Tsunade demanded. The universe heard her demand and the Anbu crashed through the window behind her. Everyone dove out of the way as the anbu flew over the desk. She landed hard on the floor and rolled until she hit the wall. The scroll was still in her hand and she wasn't letting go. Her vision blurred and darkness crept in. Her body relaxed ad her grip loosened.

"She sure knows how to make an entrance." Naruto commented under his breathe.

"Do you think she's ok?" Sakura asked. Tsunade walked over to her, Shizune in tow. Before they got there, Kakashi bent down to grab the scroll. The moment it moved in her hand, there was the tip of a blade under his chin. She moved faster than they could see. She was sitting up, short sword ready to go straight through his head and the scroll was clutched to her chest. Kakashi put his hands up and slowly backed away. She stood up and removed the sword, ,putting it away.

"Sorry, Kakashi, it's been a long week." She said and she straightened up. "Lady Tsunade, I have what you sked for."

"I was starting to get worried." Tsunade said. "It was only supposed to take a few days and you dragged in strays. What the hell happened?" The anbu looked around the room.

"I would like to speak with you in private." She answered, handing over the scroll. Kakshi turned to his students.

"Why don't you three go home for the day?"

"What?" Naruto shouted. "But we didn't get any training today!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura told him through grit teeth as she tried to drag him away. They had just gotten through the door when the anbu ninja swayed and collapsed, knocking her mask off. She convulsed for a few seconds before stilling. Tsunade and Shizune were looking her over. Shizune looked in her bag. She found he empty pill container and syringe.

"Lady Tsunade." She said and held up the containers. "She used all of it."

"What on earth would possess her to do that?" Tsunade asked. "She knew the risks of it." Shizune could only shrug. "Sakura, come here. You're going to get a little training today. Help Shizune get her to the hospital, I'll be there shorty."

Once the room was cleared, Tsunade looked at the scroll. There was a small piece of paper taped to it.

 _They knew -S_


	2. Chapter 2

The woman was in the hospital bed asleep. Her brown hair was spread out on the pillow and some was matted against her face. The treatment Lady Tsunade had to put her through was very taxing on the body. She was lucky to be making any form of recovery. The only sounds in the room were the soft beeps of the machines monitoring her vitals. Kakashi stood silently next to her, just watching.

He couldn't stop staring at one very noticeable feature on her. There was a scar starting on her jaw and running down her neck and to her collar bone. The memory of the scar was burned into his brain. It was a stupid mistake on his part. He wasn't paying attention and almost got her killed.

"Sensei," A soft voice called from the door. Kakashi turned to see Sakura standing there. "Is something wrong?" She asked, coming into the room. She stood next to Kakashi and looked at the woman sleeping. "Earlier, she said your name. Do you know her?"

"We were assigned a few missions together." He told his student. He wasn't sure why he didn't think she would pick up on that.

"Lady Tsunade said she would be ok." Sakura told him. "She had a few injuries, nothing too serious. But she did injure her wrist."

"It never healed right. It breaks easily." He informed her. "She broke it on a mission. We were too far away from the village to get it treated properly so we had to make do."

"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto shouted as he neared the door. They could hear him running. "Hey, Kakashi sensei! Is your friend going to be ok?" He shouted as he came into the room.

"Naruto, be quiet!" Sakura scolded.

"Don't worry about it." Kakashi told her. "She sleeps through everything." The woman in the bed grunted and rolled on her side, facing them. She pulled the covers up to her chin and glared at Kakashi.

"You say that." She grunted.

"You're up." Kakashi noted. She rolled her eyes and pushed herself up. She sat with her feet hanging off the bed and they didn't touch the floor.

"Well yeah." She answered. "The meds wore off."

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked. The woman looked at her for a second before smiling softly and nodding.

"I'm alright." She answered. Sakura was taken aback a bit. Just a few seconds ago, the woman was rigid and formal. But when she spoke to Sakura, her posture and tone relaxed. Her smile transformed her into a completely different person. She didn't even look like a ninja, much less an anbu. She just looked like a normal civilian. "Are you the one they assigned to look after me?" She asked. Sakura found herself blushing and nodded. "Tsunade doesn't usally let a genin look after anbu. She must trust you."

"Hey, what happened to you today?" Naruto asked. The woman blinked a looked at him.

"Uh." She hesitated, glancing back to Kakashi for a second. "Just a mission gone a little wrong. It's nothing to worry about. Thank you for all of your help by the way." 

"Lady Tsunade said you were lcear to leave once you woke up." Sakura told her. "She expects you to follow her instructions and take it easy for a few days." The woman was about to respond but Kakashi spoke first.

"Sakura, Naruto, why don't you two go home for the day," He suggested. "I'd like to catch up with my old friend." Naruto and Sakura shared a confused look before leaving. Surprisingly, Naruto didn't argue. Once they left, the room was empty and Kakashi sat and looked at the woman on the bed. She crossed her legs like a pretzel and stared back. They sat in silence for a few minutes until she broke it.

"Friends." She spoke softly, a humorless smile on her lips. "Is that what we were?" She asked as she stood and went to the drawer next to her bed. She opened it and pulled out her clothes. She laid them on the bed and faced away from him. She slipped the hospital gown off and began getting dressed.

"I'm still not entirely sure what we were, Saya." Kakashi answered. "And you left before we could figure it out. That mission changed you."

"It wasn't the mission." She told him firmly. She paused after slipping into her shirt. "It wasn't just that one mission." She began to step into her pants. "Your students are nice. They show promise, you must be proud."

"I am, but that isn't relevant to our conversation." He told her. "What happened on that mission?" He asked and moved closer to her. He put his hand on her shoulder. "What happened to you?" She brushed him off.

"Nothing happened." She told him as she tied her hair in a sloppy bun. "I just wasn't sneaky enough and got caught."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about." Kakashi pointed out. Saya stood still. For a brief instant her memories focused on the mission he was talking about. The scar from it burned and she idly placed a hand over her lower stomach where it was hidden. She had been missing for months and only a very select few were privy to the details. Kakashi was not one of those few.

"Nothing happened." She told him and slipped on her shoes. She grabbed her things and turned to face Kakashi. She brushed past him and left without another word.

Saya shifted her bag over her shoulder and fiddled with her keys, trying to unlock the door to her apartment. It took her a minute but she heard the click and her door slowly opened. She was about to step in when footsteps came around the corner. She looked to see the students of team seven at her doorstep.

"Can I help you?" She asked. Naruto looked a little startled, sakura looked a little embarrassed, and Sasuke…he looked like Sasuke.

"Uh..yeah we were just uh…" Naruto stumbled.

"We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions." Sakura answered. Saya tilted her head.

"You're anbu right?" Naruto asked. "And you've worked with Kakashi sensei." That startled her.

"What do you want to know about Kakashi?" She asked and looked inside her apartment. "My place isn't really ready for visitors."

"Don't worry," Sasuke piped up. "It can't be as bad as Naruto's place." Naruto bristled at this but Saya sighed and welcomed them in before the two fought.

"Excuse the mess." Saya said as she walked in and dropped her keys in a dish by the door. The three young genin walked in and were a little startled. Saya shut he door and left them in her small living area. She instead went to her bedroom and dropped her bag on the bed.

"Woah." Naruto mumbled as they looked around. "Not what I expected from an anbu."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "All these plants, I wonder why she has them." Sakura mentioned, referring to the plant that covered the apartment. On the window sill in her kitchen were pots of plants, hanging plants in the indow and all the corners of her apartment, some hanging over the pot and almost reaching the floor. There were plants on the tables and plants on the counters. Some had flowers and some looked more like vines.

"Are we even sure she is anbu?" Sasuke asked. "She doesn't really act like it."

"I promise you," Saya answered, returning, "I am actually a member of the Anbu." She had changed into clean clothes and braided her hair into two sections. She wore I tight white shirt that had a high collar and medium sleeves. She also wore white, loose pants that flowed when she walked. "Sit, I'll make some tea. Go sit in the living room." She waved them off. A short while late, the four of them sat around her small table, sipping tea.

"So, what do you want to know?" She asked the three little ones in her apartment.

"What's under Kakashi sensei's mask!" Naruto shouted, startling her. She blinked at him before smirking a bit.

"No idea." She said and sipped her tea.

"What do you mean you don't know?! I thought you guys were friends!" Naruto shouted at her.

"Naruto, shut up!" Sakura scolded. "Don't be rude."

"Look, I may not know about what is under his mask," she said, "but I know amazingly embarrassing stories of the cool, aloof Kakashi Hatake." That got their attention.


	3. Chapter 3

Kakashi 3

By the time Saya kicked the three genin out, it was dark and the three would never be able to look at their sensei the same way. They stood in the hall looking at each other, no one really sure what to say.

"So uh…" Naruto stuttered. "See you guys tomorrow?" Sasuke nodded and Sakura agreed quietly. The three walked away slowly, quietly, heading to their respective homes.

Saya closed the door with a small smile and paused, looking around her apartment. The sun was long gone and the soft glow of the village lights shone through her windows. She shut off the light after they left and enjoyed the quiet. It was so quiet. She smiled to herself and moved to the table, picking up dishes and moving them into the sink.

It was nice having people in the home again, it had been so empty for the last few years. But is this something she would wish to become a common occurance? She had to actually sit and think. Their bickering was exhausting. How did Kakashi do it? She pondered this as she rinsed off the plates, scraping the left overs into the trash can. She paused her cleaning when she felt a presence on her balcony.

"I hope they didn't eat all of your food." Kakashi told her from his spot in the doorway. She had left the door open to let in the fresh air. She turned to look at him, face calm.

"It needed to be eaten." She answered. "It was about to go bad. I'll go shopping tomorrow." He moved forward and she turned away, loading the dishes back into the dishwasher. He was about to reach out to her but thought otherwise.

"I'll join you." He told her calmly, "It's the least I can do after Naruto got a hold of your food."

"Don't bother." She said and walked away, done with the dishes. She grabbed a pitcher and began filling it with water. "Why are you here?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were back?" He asked her. She began watering some of the plants in her apartment. "How long have you been back?"

"Don't get used to it." She told him, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes, "I'm not staying. Once I'm cleared for missions, I'm going to request another long term one." She explained this to him as she finished watering her plants. Saya had been gone for almost a year. She had been back for a few weeks. The mission she just returned from only took a few days. This was the third long mission she had been on. Kakashi was losing his patience. She turned to refill the pitcher. "You can leave now."

Kakashi grabbed her wrist and spun her to face him. He grabbed her shoulders tightly and looked into her face.

"You can't keep running, Saya." He told her, almost harshly. Her face betrayed her shock. "You can't keep running from it. It wasn't you fault and this is what we do. You have to face it." She was only stunned for a second before forcing his hand off her shoulders. She shouted back.

"I'm not running from anything!" She told him. "What I do with my life is none of your business!"

"I'm not trying to-" He tried to defend himself but she cut him off.

"Where the hell do you get off? Barging into my house, trying to act like you know me so well, trying to tell me how to grieve, how to live!" She kept shouting and stepped towards him. "You have no right, no right, Kakashi! Get out of my house!" Saya spun on the balls of her feet and began walking away. She tossed the container down and heard the door to her balcony shut. She paused in the living area. She heard the door close, but he hadn't left.

Kakashi stood right behind her. He rested a hand on her shoulder. Saya didn't move and let him rest his head on the back of hers. They stood like that for a while. The apartment was quiet and dark. She preferred sitting in the dark anyway. They stood in the quiet until Saya stepped away. Kakashi didn't move.

"Stay or leave. It's up to you." She told him as she walked down the hall. "I'm taking a shower." Kakashi watched her leave and didn't move until he heard the water running. He took off his vest and gently laid it on the back of her couch. He moved his shoes to the front door and removed his shirt and headband. He sat on the couch in his pants and mask.

Saya let the hot water fall over her. Her tense muscles relaxed a bit and the pain dulled. The steam filled the room quickly. She tried not to think about Kakashi in the next room, she tried not to realize how familiar the situation felt. Saya washed her hair and ran her fingers through it, massaging her scalp as she went.

Perhaps she was too harsh to him. He was trying to help, to rebuild what they had. But if she had to stop and think, she wasn't sure what they had. She would be lying if she said she hadn't missed him. Saya had actually missed him a lot and was secretly relieved he didn't leave. She was starting to tire of being lonely.

He sat there for a while, looking around the apartment. He hadn't been there in a while and it hadn't changed a bit. Her plants were still growing well and there were books all over the place. She still didn't have any pictures. He wasn't sure how long she was in the shower, but she came out in a towel. Saya glanced at him briefly before walking down the hall to her room.

"They seem to listen to you well." Kakashi pointed out. "Perhaps you could join us for training tomorrow. I'm sure they would enjoy a lesson from a current Anbu operative." She shut the door and rested against it. She thought about the offer but was still more pissed than anything.

She was so infuriated. He didn't actually think she was taking these long missions just to get away from everything right? Was she doing that? She enjoys the work, it pays well. Saya liked keeping busy, right?

Why did she feel guilty?

Saya slipped into shorts and a tank top before crawling in bed. Her head hit the pillow and she was out. She had been running on empty for a long while. Saya drifted off into sleep and eventually into a dream.

 _She heard the door creak open slowly. He was making his presence known. He night time visitor moved quietly to her bed and lifted the covers, climbing in after her and wrapping his arms around her. She could feel his breath on her neck, she could smell him, the smell of an oncoming storm. She knew who he was and relaxed into him. She began lazily caressing one of the arms around her until the soft skin changed beneath her fingers. Something was sticking to her fingers and quickly becoming more so. She tried to sit up only to be forced down into the sticky mess. She brought her hands up and all she could see was a dark tar-like substance covering her. She couldn't breathe. The thing beside her began to shift on top of her. She struggled but the tar kept her stuck to the bed. It was oozing off of the figure looming above her, revealing a decrepit skeleton. There were no eyes, only black holes. There was no skin, only bone. The jaw slowly opened far wider than humanly possible. It roared and lunged at her intending to bite._

Saya woke with start. She looked around her room as she got control of her breathing. The sun was starting to shine into her room. Once calmed she got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. She noted that Kakashi had left already.

"Where do you think he is this time?" Sakura asked her teammates as they waited for Kakashi to arrive.

"I dunno," Naruto whined, "but if he doesn't show up soon, we won't have any time to train." Sasuke stayed quiet but kept a look out for his teacher. Kakashi was late, but he usually wasn't _this_ late. "Man, I bet if Saya was out teacher, she'd never be late."

"I wouldn't bet on it, Naruto." Kakashi mused from his perch on a branch. He was sitting there, reading. All three jumped, startled their sensei was right behind them. Or above them really. "Did you three really not notice me?" He sighed, disappointedly.

"Hey! Just how long have you been here, Kakashi sensei?" Naruto shouted. Kakashi just shrugged and kept reading.

"Why are we just sitting here, wasting time?" Sasuke asked, mildly irritated.

"We are waiting." He answered and flipped a page in his book.

"Waiting for what?" Sakura asked quietly, all three sharing confused looks. Sakura was about to ask another question when someone caught her eye. "Hey, look! It's Saya!" She exclaimed and waved energetically to the woman.

Saya smiled and waved back before starting to jog over.

"Goodmorning." She greeted. Sakura and Naruto returned the greeting as Kakashi jumped down.

"Glad you could make it." He told her. "Was starting to worry you had turned down the offer."

"What offer?" Sasuke asked, grumpily.

"You never told me where to meet you." She pointed out then addressed her students for the day. "Kakashi has offered me the chance to work with you three today."

"You mean you're going to be training us?" Sakura asked.

"Awesome!" Naruto shouted. "I get to be trained by an ANbu!"

"Naruto, don't shout that!" Sakura scolded. " People aren't supposed to know who the Anbu are!"

"You know Kakashi was Anbu, right?" Saya pointed out.

"Yeah but he's not anymore!" Naruto whined. Saya rolled her eyes. The three stood next to each other in a line after arguing with each other. Kakashi stood off to the side, waiting to see where she would start them off.

"Ok, so first I want to know what you guys are able to do, what you already know." She began. "There is no point in teaching you things you already know." She began pulling her hair up into a bun at the top of her head. "Are you guys in good running clothes? This is going to be very taxing." They all nodded, ready to do whatever she told them to do. _Wish they were this eager every day._ Kakashi thought to himself. "Alright. Naruto, I need you in front of me for a second." He nervously stepped forward, trying to keep it cool in front of his team mates. "There is only one rule to start this off." She held up her hand, fingers extended and slapped Naruto on the shoulder. "You have to touch the person with your whole hand." Kakashi sighed at this, knowing exactly what was about to happen. Saya crouched down, her hand still on his shoulder. "Your it, Naruto." And with that she turned and sprinted away. The three stood there, stunned.

"How is playing tag supposed to help us?" Sasuke asked, irritated.

"Tag?" Naruto asked, never really been able to play games like this growing up.

"You have to chase someone and hit them with your whole hand, Naruto." Sakura explained gently before walking over to him and repeating the action. "Like this! Now you have to tag someone else!" She shouted as she began running as well.

"Hey, Sasuke, let me tag you." Naruto said, still a little confused. Sasuke briskly walked away.

"That's not how you play, idiot." He jested before running off as well.

"You have to chase them." Kakashi explained. "Once you tag someone else, then they have to tag someone." He could see the light bulb go off in his head. "Then you need to run away or else you'll be tagged again."

"Oh, I get it!" Naruto shouted.

"Don't forget, everyone in the village is fair game." He instructed before disappearing himself. Naruto smiled and started running. He found Sasuke and caught up to him quickly, slapping him on the shoulder before dashing away. Sasuke spun on his heel and followed until he found a chakra signature he recognized. _Sakura._ He followed. She was more difficult to catch than he originally thought. He followed her around a small section of the village but could not catch her. He stopped to rest in a tree when he found his next target. Kiba, Shino, and Hinata were walking down the street. He smirked to himself.

"Tag." He said, appearing behind Kiba and tagging him. He sprinted away. Kiba looked around confused but found Shino was already gone and Hinata was giggling and walking away before running as well. Kiba smirked, always down for a good chase and began chasing his teammates.

Kiba followed Hinata before catching onto Naruto and following him. Naruto was running through the street and ran past Neji, Lee, and Tenten.

"Naruto, what's the rush?" Tenten asked as he ran.

"Don't get tagged!" Was his only answer. Kiba came barreling towards them and the three dogged just in time but Kiba was locked on Neji and tried to tag him. Neji twisted in the air to avoid the tag. Kiba missed Neji and landed near him. He didn't give up and eventually was able to tag him.

The game of tag escalated until several people were "it" including Shikamaru, Sakura, and Kakashi. It was well into the afternoon at this point so people were getting exhausted. Most had resigned to sitting on top of a tall building and watching the others still hopping around the village.

"Wait so is Hinata still in?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, she's over there." Kiba said and pointed.

"You think Kakashi's gonna get her?" Naruto asked.

"Obviously." Sasuked answered. They watched but Kakashi switched directions quickly. Hinata headed their way and stopped, hands on knees, breathing deep.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked. It took a minute for Hinata to catch her breathe and when she did, she told them what was going on.

"He's finally caught up with Saya." She explained. Those who knew of her were surprised. She had been missing most of the afternoon.

"She's probably running out of energy." Sakura explain. "She still hasn't recovered."

"Oh yeah," Naruto piped up. "She hasn't had any time to heal yet."

"I wonder how long it'll take for Kakashi to catch her." Sasuke mused. "They are the last one's actually in the game right?" They all sat in silence until Naruto stood up with a wide grin on his face.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I want a get a closer look when Kakashi sensei tags her!" And with that, Naruto took off, Sakura following after.

Slowly but surely the whole group of them were following the two adults. Things were starting to get serious. They learned early in the day that literally anything went. You could deflect if you were about to get tagged and you could fight back. More than a few fights broke out.

Saya was staying within a block's distance but was still avoiding him. He almost had her a few times. On the strike they all thought it was over, she deflected and kicked him hard in the chest. The startled students saw their teacher crash into the dirt street. He wasn't down for long and jumped back at her, kunai drawn. She flipped away and pulled out her own. This time she lunged at him, throwing the kunai at him and following with a punch. He blocked the knife and blocked the punch, pushing her back.

Saya jumped high in the air and he followed. The two exchanged blows and she kicked downwards, striking him back down into the dirt. She followed but he jumped away. Immediately, she waved her arm in a sideways arch and all the genin jumped away at the fire that roared towards Kakashi.

"Damn, I think they're taking this game to seriously." Kiba noted.

"Ain't that the truth," confirmed shikamaru as Kakashi formed a few hand signals, using a fire jutsu himself. The genin watched in awe as they fought. There was never a dull moment and no one could tell just who would win.

They kept at it until the sun started to set, not that they had noticed. It took another sensei stepping in to stop them.

Kakashi was on his back in the dirt and Saya was falling downwards, arm poised to strike, when Guy shouldered her away. She rolled on the ground and righted herself, startled by the intrusion. Guy stood over Kakashi, ready to fight and Kurenai grabbed Saya by the arm.

"What's going on here?" She asked saya.

"Hey guys." Kakashi said as he stood up.

"Playing tag." Saya explained with a small smirk. Kurenai looked at her, confused, and the genin jumped out of their hiding spots.

"Sensei!" Lee shouted to Guy. "It is true! We were all participating in a game of tag and these two were the last in the game!"

"Do you really think it's wise to be back to fighting so soon?" Kurenai asked Saya who chuckled and stepped away.

"Who are you?" She joked. "My mother?" Saya then addressed the group. "Hope you all had a little fun today. Maybe you learned a little something, too."


End file.
